trimmingthesails

Art journalling without the art?

I wish I could do art journalling. Scrapbooking is wonderful for recording memories, events, moments. But sometimes, I just want to respond to something, to record my thoughts and feelings about it, to write; not quite knowing where it's going, but seeing where it takes me.  And I want a picture for it, not just as a pretty illustration but as something which interacts with the words, shaping, complementing, amplifying, adding something more ... That's what happened here - a throwaway remark about my parents' move to our home shortly, tucked away for later thought. Perhaps I could call it 'photo journalling'?


From the sea to the land, and the allotment. There may even be a scrapbook page about it next week. I'm warning you now - it may involve a lot of brown mud and slugs. Only the language is likely to be colourful! See you then?

Right now ...

Stone cold, a stony silence, a stony look, stony-hearted, to stone wall ... Obdurate, unyielding, unfeeling. It gets a bad press, does stone. Tipping out bags of them these last few days along the edges of the wall, racing against the clock to prepare a path and garden area for my parents who are coming to live with us very shortly, plunging them into buckets of cold water in the howling wind and rain to sluice off the sandy dirt and reveal their subtle patterns and colours, I couldn't resist bringing some of them inside. In the quiet of the kitchen, strung like beads along a shelf, they rest. They have survived, pitted and pock-marked, through aeons of time and change. Grounded, steadfast, enduring. They're just what I need right now ...

Tagged ...

 

Just what ...?

"And I thought you were getting rid of all your patterned paper", mused Himself, looking over my shoulder.
"I am", I replied, a tad testily."It's just that this one fitted the bill for this particular photo."
"Mm hmm", he answered. I looked round sharply. Dead-pan is not one of his usual modes.
"Meaning?" I asked, perhaps a little more tartly than intended. He didn't move a muscle.
"No, nothing." Pause. Wait for it.
"It's just .." Ah-ha! I knew there was something coming.
"Mm hmm?" I queried, simulating blandness like it was going out of fashion.
"It's just ... It's such (faint hesitation) ... an unusual colour,  being as orange as it is".
I eyed him carefully. The purchase featured in the layout has been the subject of some recent and (let's call it) vibrant discussion.
"I'm glad to see," he continued, "that you're getting such a lot of use out of it." I hung on: would he be able to resist?
Nope. "Out of the paper, that is." he added pointedly. I permitted myself the merest lift of an eyebrow. He left, whistling loudly. Mind you, it's not as if he had implied anything I hadn't already said to myself ...

I've adapted slightly the lovely clean template offered by Amy, over here. Keeping it straightforward (design- and time-wise), the photo and journalling are printed together onto photopaper, the ribbon tied round, and the whole piece simply Herma-d onto the patterned paper; the holes on the right are where it will be slipped into my spiral binder.

Now, if only finding something to use with the shoes were that simple!

Here and there ...

... this week, and inbetween too! This will make posting difficult, but hope to be back later in the week. Today, I am over at It's a Crestive World. And do pop over to see Ginger's glorious dip-into-digi!

Mail Art for May

There's something lovely about the sound of 'slow mail' gently plopping through the door. There's the anticipation of going down stairs or opening doors to see the shapes of it lying on the mat. Then there's the reaching down to pick it up and turn it over ... And this is what I saw. These lovely textures ...

 Turning it over to the front with a quickening pulse, here's what greeted and delighted my eyes ...

And then, opening it gently, I found this lovely card inside. And the author, designer and maker of all this textured prettiness? Thank-you so much, Susanne! 

Susanne, of Snaps and Snippets way across the Atlantic, is part of a group of us who are experimenting with Mail Art, thanks to Ginger who organised it over at Ginger's Life of Spice and to Sian of From High in the Sky fame who enthused and inspired us in her monthly Pass The Book choice of Good Mail Art. You may well see our offerings to each other on your travels around the blogosphere. Just who'd have thought that:

• making and decorating an envelope was such fun?
• you could go wild and experiment because, well, you can? No expectations! No rules! Anything goes!
• taking mail art to the Post Office to send and watching the assistant's face could make a long wait in a queue worth while?
• an electronic means of communication, like blogging, could lead to the revival of handmade letters and cards?
• it could connect people all across the world, who have never met each other, by invisible threads of kindness, artistry, caring ... and give such pleasure?

So thank-you again, Susanne: I was thrilled. :) And to all of you reading along, if you have never tried it: why not give it a go? You will not regret it!

Thank-you ...
to all of you who shared your own scrapbooking mishaps and mayhem in Monday's post: I smiled along with you, and was glad to know I am not alone! The buttons are still waiting, and the ink on the wall has responded to some primer and paint, and the glue has finally been scraped off finger-tips. Just in time for ...

Ad inspiration
Paula's Monday ad inspiration challenge looked too good to miss: rounded corners, some interesting photo shapes, and a bright fresh green. And as I am in DD-deprivation mode, it was lovely to work with some photos of her. My version started out with the rounded corners but seemed - as it developed - to omit most of the other elements, alas. :( But thank-you, Paula, for the starting blocks, and hope the morphed version is close enough to be considered a distant relative! This secondhand bookshop is a family favourite. Indeed, if they could just pop a bed in near the tea-making things, I'd move in...

May your books be inspiring, your crafting inspired, and your tea ... well, um ... hot?

If only it were ...

... a Red Letter Day! Putting together a paper-and-glue version of the template last week, is taking a lot longer than I had anticipated, and it is - as you will see below - not finished yet. Still, it has brought me up against some interesting scrap-related questions.

• How can putting together a page about twice the size of my hands incapacitate the sensible functioning of a whole room?
• How come it takes an unconscionable length of time to position elements on a multiphoto page?
• How can I be so incapable of putting lids back on boxes of patterned card as I 'audition' them, that I end up with a floorful?
• How do you stitch tiny buttons (because they will fall off if I don't) through card, spacing them evenly?
• How does red ink travel from its little plastic box to leave a smeary blotch on the far side of the room?

Does scrapbooking or crafting bring you up against any interesting questions? Do share! Oh, and for the word-lovers among you, the origin of Red Letter Day is here; I am sure there is room in the lexicon for Blue Letter Days ... And the first manufacturer to bring out self-closing boxes and an ink which will work only on paper or card will have my undying gratitude. :)

One day ...

 
One of my favourite poets, and favourite poems; hope there is something in here for you today. After a fraught time, 
I am having a gentle Friday of some unfurling, uncurling and perhaps even some quiet play. Hoping that if you need it, 
you can have some too ...

Story-telling Sunday

This is more of a back-story. A how-we-got-to-be-here story. My recent Skinny-Dipping-In-Digi posts were also given a little assistance by Himself (who has appeared on here more than once). As backroom boys rarely get an honourable mention, without more ado, let me present ...
****************************************************************************************************************************************

"You want me to do what?"
"It won't take long", I said pleadingly. "I'd be very grateful if you'd road-test my instructions for the template." Himself looked at me carefully, weighing me up.
"I'll make a meal", I proffered. The nose wrinkled ever so slightly: I clearly needed to up the stakes. "OK, and I'll do the ironing." That tipped the balance.
 "I don't do Photoshop." Himself observed, surveying the screen and taking off his glasses to peer at the pdf.
"I know", I reminded him, sensing a hesitation and thinking fast. "That's what makes you such a great subject for spotting the gaps and errors," I said, digging a trap of flattery and holding my breath.
"Indeed", he said, though I wasn't sure whether he'd fallen in or seen it coming and taken a strategic detour. "Off you go!" he admonished. "I'll let you know if there are any glitches."
"You will be very careful with that glass of wine and my keyboard?", I asked, trying to sound stern. "Otherwise, it'll be a very expensive replacement. I'll want an Airbook. Top of the range." He wasn't fooled. We both know that top-of-the-range anything is out of the question.
And he was very helpful. There were a few loopholes. (Mind you, watching his process afforded illumination into the way Himself and instructions rub along together, and account for a couple of the Ikea furniture-erecting problems of late). But credit where it is due: this is his version of the template which I proudly and appreciatively present to you, and without which last week's posts would not have seen the light of day ...

The meal and the wine are long gone; alas, not so the ironing ... But as I went past with the first armful to the airing cupboard, a voice called to me. From my computer. And it said: "Just how do you drop in a gradient fill?".

So, inbetween dashing away with the smoothing iron, I'll be popping in to read the rest of the stories at Sian's wonderful Story-telling Sunday, over at From High in the Sky. Come and see ... you don't really want to watch yet another Bank Holiday re-run of James Bond, do you!